brent johnson digs up another lost treasure, this week from Neko Case …
Loneliness is one of music’s most trusted topics. But usually, pop songs focus on the despair of feeling isolated and deserted. Think ‘Heartbreak Hotel.’ ‘Un-Break My Heart.’ Practically every song Morrissey has ever written.
Neko Case wants none of that.
She isn’t exactly a bundle of excitement in the lovely ‘I Wish I Was The Moon.’ Her romance has been gutted. She feels cold, tired and numb. But she’s jealous of that big glowing bulb in the sky. Sometimes, when life is at its most crushing, you need to be far, far away from the world. You need the peacefulness of solitude.
With its longing lyrics and wilting melody, this song doesn’t just evoke that emotion. It actually feels like it. Which makes it something rare: a song that celebrates the serenity of being alone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fhur6g8_BM
Most people know Case as the fire-haired singer of Canadian power-poppers The New Pornographers. But her solo work is more organic, more rustic. And she’s the owner of my favorite female voice — large, sweeping, robust, yet sweet.
Like this song, it’s a voice you can feel.
Very ordinary.